Chikan embroidery stitchalong

Well, it's completed.  Thank you Anita from Artistic Fingers who guided us through eight weeks of Chikan embroidery.  The finished motif is very nice.  

I'm going to admit that I had a very difficult time with filling the centre upside down heart.  The sample numbered pattern instructs we go down one column and then up the next.  My brain just could not fathom that out, so when I reached the bottom of the first column I wove my thread up through the stitches at the back to the top of the next column and began embroidering down again.

A week or so ago she showed on her blog some more potential stitch-alongs.  I'm looking forward to doing another.

Chikan Embroidery - third lesson

I'm now working on the double back stitch.  That's the centre blue heart.  I chose the smallest piece first, there's lots more of that stitch to do.

Chikan Embroidery - second lesson

Finished the first two lessons.  I think it looks quite delicate.  I'm using a hoop and a lighted magnifier at all times.  For the chain stitch I tried it with two strands, but unpicked and used one only.  

Now I have to get down to Nancy Eha's first lesson in the Seed Bead Botany online class. 

Chikan Embroidery

I'm taking part in Anita's stitchalong.  She's teaching a bunch of us an Indian embroidery style called Chikan embroidery.  Anita's blog is Artistic Fingers and is on my sidebar.

There are stitches at the back of the work that show through as a shadow.  I'm enjoying doing it, but have realized several things so far:

• I need better glasses!  Towards the end I used my lighted magnifier, and there is a great improvement. On the left side where the darker pink starts, I began using the magnifier. 
• Garbage in, garbage out, I think I remember that from computers.  And the same holds true here, do a good job of tracing the pattern and the little shapes will be more even when embroidered.